INDIAN WELLS, United States – Five-time championNovak Djokovic will be out to reassert his dominance on the hard courts ofIndian Wells this week, seeking to shake off the slump that has dogged him into2017.

Djokovic’s five titles in the California desert include the last three.

But the Serbian star arrives at a tournament he has owned shaken by asecond-round exit at the Australian Open, which was followed by a shockingquarter-final loss to young Australian Nick Kyrgios in Acapulco.

The setbacks come on the back of a troublesome second half of 2016, when helost his world number one ranking to Andy Murray and relinquished his Wimbledonand US Open titles.

Acknowledging that his longed-for first French Open crown last year lefthim emotionally depleted, Djokovic nonetheless says his game remains goodenough to get him back to the summit.

"Right now I feel like it was better than it was, especially in the secondpart of last season," Djokovic said Thursday as unseeded men swung into actionin the first ATP Masters tournament of the year.

"Particularly after the US Open I had those couple months where I wasn’tmyself on the court. Now I’m at the better place and I believe that I’m headedin the right direction."

Djokovic, who lifted the trophy in Doha this year before his AustralianOpen defeat, insisted the latest setbacks haven’t discouraged him.

"Generally if I see myself kind of (in) larger perspective today comparedto end of last season, I’m a different player," he said. "I feel morecomfortable, I feel more fresh. I look forward to competing and I feel moreconfident on the court."

But he’s got a monumental task in Indian Wells, where he anchors a bottomquarter that also includes four-time champion Roger Federer, and three-timewinner Rafael Nadal.

Dangerous draw

The talent-laden section also includes former US Open winner Juan Martindel Potro, Kyrgios and young German Alexander Zverev.

"I haven’t had too many draws like that," Djokovic said. "It’s quiteamazing to see that many quality players are in one quarter.

"It is what it is," he added. "Obviously Nadal and Federer are starting tobuild their rankings. They haven’t played, especially Roger hasn’t played forsix months of the last season.

"Winning the Australian Open he got in the top 10 but he’s still not topeight, obviously that’s potentially putting him in position to play last 16with a top eight player.

"We’ll see what happens. I guess in the first four or five days of thetournament we’ll have some very, very strong matches."

Murray heads the draw that gives all 32 seeded players a first-round bye.

Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil and Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun were squaringoff for a chance to take on Murray, while Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot took onFrance’s Jeremy Chardy with the winner to take on eighth-seeded AustrianDominic Thiem.

The 23-year-old Thiem, who won his eighth ATP title in Rio last month, isamong the young players keen to muscle in on the game’s "Big Four" of Murray,Djokovic, Nadal and Federer.

Even after his 2016 Australian Open victory more than a year ago, Djokovicindicated he could feel them coming, telling reporters that wolves running upthe hill are hungrier than the wolf at the top.

"I guess I’m one of the wolves going up now," Djokovic said Thursday. "AndI’m hungry."– AFP